By David Ferguson

Diab N Allouh, Ambassador to China of the State of Palestine, yesterday demanded that Israel put an immediate stop to its acts of violence against the people of Gaza. At a rally that took place on January 9 in the grounds of the Palestinian Embassy in Beijing, he spoke at length and without notes, detailing his criticism of the Israeli regime, the appalling suffering of the civilian victims trapped in Gaza, and his calls to the international community for help and support.

Smoke caused by Israeli military operations is seen over Gaza City, Jan. 9, 2009. [Xinhua Photo]

The rally was attended by hundreds of supporters of the Palestinian cause, wearing black and white check scarves tipped with the flags of Palestine and of China. It was conducted against a backdrop of photomontages showing dreadful injuries suffered by the dead and the injured, many of them women and children.

An Embassy spokesman explained that the rally, only the second ever by the Palestinians in Beijing, was being held in the grounds of the Embassy rather than on the streets of the city out of courtesy to the Chinese hosts and respect for their laws. Later at a Press Conference Mr Allouh reiterated the contents of his speech, and answered the questions of the journalists.

Firstly, he thanked the international community for all those who had stood by the people of Gaza during the recent grim events.

Secondly, he accused the Israeli government of being to blame for the desperate and one-sided conflict. While he acknowledged the problem of rocket attacks on Israel staged from Gaza, and emphasized that the Palestinian Authority is opposed to these rocket attacks, he pointed out that the fundamental problem is the occupation followed by the blockade of Gaza conducted by the Israelis, and that the rockets themselves are a symptom, not a cause, of the conflict.

Irani children light candles while praying for the children in Gaza during a rally at the Palestine Square in Tehran, capital of Iran, Jan. 7, 2009. Thousands of Irani people gathered at the square Wednesday night to support the Palestinian people.[Xinhua Photo]

Thirdly, he criticized the Israeli government for its failure to take advantage of peace initiatives – "Israel has wasted opportunities for peace", were his words – and emphasized that the Palestinian Authority was and is always ready to engage in a dialogue to bring about peace.

Lastly he welcomed the UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and pleaded with the international community not to relent in its efforts to restrain the Israeli attacks until there should be an end to the violence.

"This is not a war between two armies", said Mr Allouh. "It is a war being waged on Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army."

He listed the excesses of the Gaza invasion and the period that had preceded it: a long campaign of low-level interference with Gaza's channels of communication with the outside world that had ruined the infrastructure of the Strip and left many families without proper food, medical treatment, or basic human necessities such as power and running water; the wholesale destruction of communities following the invasion that has targeted, among others, five UN-run schools; the interference with the work of international organizations like the UN and the Red Cross that has led to both groups suspending operations in Gaza after each had drivers shot and killed by the Israeli army; a failure to respect the laws of war and the simplest norms of common human decency by carrying out attacks that have led to large numbers of civilian casualties, and then preventing help from being given to the survivors for hours or even days, while women and children died..

To the question whether Hamas had intended to provoke this behaviour by the Israelis, he responded vigorously: "The Israelis started this crisis. For six months during the ceasefire they operated a blockade on Gaza, rendering life intolerable for the population. Incursions and attacks on Gaza over this period led to the deaths of 25 Palestinians. In the face of a slow death, the rocket attacks on Israel were inevitable. They are now the excuse that Israel needed to launch the invasion, and this action is completely disproportionate in the context of the events that have preceded it. If a man provokes you, do you respond by killing his wife and his children?"